Watercolor illustration sees most expensive Harry Potter-related auction

A watercolor illustration became the most expensive Harry Potter-related item ever sold at auction. The original illustration featured on the first-edition UK covers of the first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. The painting fetched $1.9 million, far beyond auctioneers’ expectations that it could sell for $400,000 to $600,000. The illustration was finished over two days in 1997 by a 23-year-old who was one of the first people to read J.K. Rowling’s manuscript. “This is really the first visualization of Harry and the wizarding world,” a Sotheby’s auctioneer said.